Packaging equipment is commonly used in industry to package articles to be sold. In the food industry, the advantages associated with automated packaging equipment are two-fold. Not only does the use of automated equipment to package food articles reduce labour costs but also minimizes contact between labourers and the food articles being packaged. From a health standpoint, this latter advantage is very significant.
Many different automated devices have been considered to package articles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,455,088 to Lerner shows a container delivery apparatus. The apparatus includes a housing in which a continuous roll of plastic bags is located. The bags are separated by perforations formed along the roll at spaced intervals. An air blowing mechanism is located in the housing to inflate the individual bags as they leave the housing to facilitate placement of an article in the bag leaving the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,719,022 to Cherio et al discloses a device for inserting foodstuff into netted containers. The device includes a tube to hold the foodstuff to be packaged and a support bench over which is located a roll of netting. A ram on the support bench has jaws on it to engage the netting. After the netting has been engaged by the jaws, the ram is reciprocated to collect a predetermined amount of netting. The collected netting is then pulled over the foodstuff held in the tube. The tube is then withdrawn and the ends of the netting are sealed to package the foodstuff.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,032 to Woods et al discloses a bagging apparatus for inserting a carton into a bag. The cartons to be bagged arrive at a loading station via a conveyor. When a carton arrives at the loading station, a reciprocating pusher moves the carton from the loading station into a bag held open by a bag grasping unit. Once the carton is pushed into the bag, the pusher is retracted and the bag with the carton in it is released by the bag grasping unit and is carried away by another conveyor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,457,124 to Hartmann discloses a bag packaging machine for bread. The machine includes a conveyor for delivering loaves of bread to be bagged. A suction unit grabs the bag to be filled and spreaders reach into the bag to open it. At that time, a pusher pushes a loaf of bread into the bag and then creates a vacuum to draw air out of the bag. A sealing device then seals the bag and the pusher releases the bag so that a conveyor may carry the bag away from the machine.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,590,748 to Harrison et al shows a machine for packaging articles. The machine includes a support for the articles to be packaged and a moveable shuttle to draw netting over the articles. Once the netting has been drawn over the articles, a sealing device seals the netting at its ends to package the articles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,937 to Finan, Sr. et al discloses an article bagging unit particularly useful for bagging ice. The unit includes a blower which partially opens a bag. A pair of fingers are then used to open the bag fully. Once the bag is fully opened, the ice to be bagged is deposited in the bag and the fingers are retracted. The open end of the bag is then heat sealed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,352 to Carnes discloses a packaging machine for packaging bread into flexible bags. The machine uses a jet of air to inflate the top bag in the stack so that articulated scoops can enter the bag interior and open to engage the bag. Once this is done, the scoops act as a funnel to guide the bread into the bag as it is pushed by pusher arm assemblies. Although this machine works satisfactorily, it is complicated and due to its many moving parts is quite large and is prone to mechanical failure.
Although many devices have been considered to package goods, improved devices to facilitate packaging and to increase speed are continually being sought. Thus, there remains the need for an improved apparatus for packaging articles.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel apparatus for packaging articles.